Assessing Acoustic Tagging Effects on Survival, Growth, and Swimming Ability of Juvenile Lake Sturgeon

Abstract

Acoustic telemetry is used to quantify fish movement, ecology, and habitat use and can contribute to assessing the success of species supplementation. In this field, a better understanding of the effects of tag burden (or the impact of an acoustic telemetry tag, which is related to the ratio of tag weight to body weight) is critical to ensure postrelease monitoring. Research on the effects of acoustic tag burden on imperiled fishes at different ontogenic stages, such as juvenile Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens, is limited. Our study provides key information for the selection of the largest acoustic tag with the greatest battery life possible (taking into account tag burden) to monitor the release success and movements of juvenile Lake Sturgeon stocked for reintroduction. We characterized tag burden effects by examining survival, TL, weight, Fulton's condition factor, and swim performance of individuals. We examined four groups of fish: control (anesthetized and no acoustic tag inserted; n = 24), sham control (anesthetized with incision sutured but no acoustic tag inserted; n = 24), Vemco V8 acoustic tag (2.0 g in air; n = 24), and Vemco V9 tag (4.4 g in air; n = 24). Acoustic tags were inserted into anesthetized fish, and the incision was sutured; tag burden (mean ± SE) ranged from 2.2 ± 0.06% to 4.6 ± 0.10% of total body weight. Results showed that the two tag burden treatments had no significant effects on growth or survival (compared to both control groups) across a 114‐d study period and that critical swim speed at 12–20 d postsurgery was not significantly impacted by increasing tag burden. Because neither of the acoustic tag sizes had significant deleterious effects on the metrics studied, we recommend using a larger V9 tag (i.e., the most powerful tag with the longest battery life) for postrelease monitoring of reintroduced juvenile Lake Sturgeon.

Does where they start affect where they finish? A multimethod investigation of the role of stocking location on survival and dispersal of hatchery‐reared Lake Sturgeon in Missouri River tributaries

“…The mean size of Lake Sturgeon tagged in 2018 was 46 g, 203 mm FL. Transmitters averaged 4.4% of body weight and for 87% of individuals transmitter weight was ≤5% of body weight, a size shown not to affect growth, survival, or swimming performance, in Lake Sturgeon (McCabe, Chiotti, Boase, Fisk, & Pitcher, 2019). Using a Welch Test, we determined that fish mass did not differ significantly by stocking site ( F [3, 51.69] = 2.16, p = 0.10).…”

“…Abdominal insertion of transmitters followed established protocols for juvenile sturgeon (e.g., Snobl, Koenigs, Bruch, & Binkowski, 2015). (McCabe, Chiotti, Boase, Fisk, & Pitcher, 2019). Using a Welch Test, we determined that fish mass did not differ significantly by stocking site (F[3, 51.69] = 2.16, p = 0.10).…”

A subdermal tagging technique for juvenile sturgeon using a new self-powered acoustic tag

“…For example, it can affect fish survival, growth, swimming behavior, ability to avoid predators or retain the tag, among others. If a tag burden is too large and has a negative effect on fish, it could bias the results of a telemetry study [7][8][9][10].…”

“…In fact, 18 of the 25 species of sturgeon worldwide are listed as endangered or critically endangered [18]. Tag effects, population demographics, and habitat monitoring studies for adult sturgeon have been well documented; however, the ability to study juvenile sturgeon is important for monitoring early life behavior and understanding habitat preferences [10,13,19,20]. Ideally, implanting juvenile sturgeon with a long-lasting tag would allow for a better understanding of shifts in habitat preferences as sturgeon mature and provide population monitoring through several age classes.…”

“…We chose white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) as the candidate species for this study. White sturgeon populations have been negatively affected by habitat fragmentation caused by dams, and there is a lack of understanding about juvenile populations and habitat use [10,17,20,22]. Additionally, sturgeon have a cartilaginous skeleton and rough leathery skin [23,24] that makes them an ideal candidate to meet the biological characteristics that affect the unique application of the SPT.…”